Memphis, 1972. After a second tour of duty in Vietnam, ex-Marine Mac Conway surprises his wife Joni by arriving home a day early, but the return is hardly joyous. Along with his friend and fellow Marine Arthur Solomon, Mac has been stigmatised by his involvement in a highly publicised Vietnam massacre; though both men were exonerated, notoreity has followed them home, and finding a good job proves impossible. When a shady figure called "The Broker" shows up to offer Mac a cool $30G for a series of future contract killings, Mac angrily declines. But he soon learns that Arthur, who has a wife and two kids and loathes his new factory job, has agreed to a similar offer. After flaunting his newfound cash at a bar, Arthur urges Mac to be his partner o the first job: a hit on a low-life PI named Rickey Suggs. Mac refuses - but after losing his job as a mechanic, he changes his mind and joins Arthur on the hit, insisting he's in it for one timeonly. It's a decision that will change the fates of both men forever.